The Serial: Far From the Rowan Tree Day67

Henry came that evening at the arranged time. Ronald took an immediate liking to him. Here at last was someone he could relate to

Normally I would have hesitated – asked for time before I answered – discussed it with Ron but these were no ordinary times for either Carmen or myself. I very much wanted to help her but also, inadvertently, I had stumbled on something that could help us and give us some steady money.

I knew that rates for baby sitting were good in Canada. Tommy and Billy got on well with our boys.

Tommy, a big stout, cheery fellow with a stomach that went before him and an army haircut, looked several years older than his seven years.

He always wanted to be the boss telling the others what they should be playing at but usually managed to make what he wanted to do sound so exciting that they wanted to do it anyway.

Billy, also a well-built fellow with an army haircut but smaller, was by nature sulkier and more truculent. You always knew what Tommy was thinking but were less sure about Billy. Resentment Was he harbouring resentments? Of the two, although he was much more disobedient, I always preferred Tommy.

Chillas, now quietly sitting on her mother’s knee sucking a bottle, was a thin slip of a girl – pale with lank hair, a permanently running nose and, according to her mum, suffering from earache.

“I’ll have a go,” I said. “But if I do find it too much for me with the baby coming and all, you’ll understand. I’ll give you plenty warning so that you can find someone else.”

“Gee that sure is wonderful,” said Carmen, slipping Chillas off her knee and putting her bottle on the table to give me a big hug. “It’ll just be so handy having you so close.” “We’ll need to find another lodger,” I said to Ronald one day shortly after Adrian’s wedding.

“I’ll put an advertisement in the paper today,” said Ronald.

I was apprehensive about the outcome. Who would we get – some immigrant who could barely speak English, some roughneck, some brash Canadian?

Would they be pleased with our kind of household – all these kids – a rickety house on its last legs?

A house where children could poke knitting needles through the walls and reach fresh air and did once or twice when they discovered the knitting needles I had brought from home. “I suppose we could put ‘Would suit a British immigrant’,” I suggested to Ronald.

“No we couldn’t,” said Ronald. “That limits the thing far too much. Besides, very few British immigrants come to Alberta. Sensible people,” Ronald threw in as an afterthought.

It was with trepidation that I waited for the phone to ring. A phone was a necessity for us because of Ronald’s business. Sometimes I got calls during the day for Ronald.

In the afternoon of the day the advertisement went into the paper the phone rang. Apprehensively I lifted the receiver.

“You have a room for rent?” To my astonishment the voice had an unmistakable Scottish burr.

“Yes,” I said. “We had a lodger but he left last week to get married and we are looking for someone to replace him.” Reasonable “You’re Scottish?” the voice at the other end sounded as surprised as myself. “Yes,” I said. “I’ll be round,” he said, “this evening to see the place if that’s OK?” “Certainly,” I replied. “My husband will be in.

“Perhaps I should warn you that we have quite a few kids – if you don’t mind kids?” “I don’t,” he said. Henry came that evening at the arranged time. Ronald took an immediate liking to him. Here at last was someone he could relate to.

Henry was about our age, of medium height with light brown hair and blue eyes, good features and a pleasant smile. His second name was Brown. It suited him.

He saw the sparsely furnished room badly in need of decoration and took it. He liked the price, which I had made reasonable and he liked the fact that we were immigrants like himself.

He told us a little about himself. “This is my second time out in Canada,” he explained. “I came out for the adventure and to see if I could make a bit of money but it’s not easy getting a job.

“I didn’t get the job I came out for but managed to get another one. I fell out with the boss not long ago. He was a right ogre.” Here Ronald could sympathise.

“By sheer chance I met this fellow whom I’d worked with last time I was in Canada.

“I was crossing the road, wondering what I was going to do next, when his car came round the corner and screeched to a halt.

“He asked what I was working at now. I told him the story. He said I should try the construction firm where he was working.

“They were hiring on one or two just now and the job would last through the winter months. I went along and got the job.

“It’s on this side of town, so I needed to change my accommodation.” Genuine Henry said he would get his things together and move in next day. When he had gone I saw the lines relax on Ronald’s high forehead.

“That was a lucky shot,” he said, “and I like him. He is one of these rare people who is totally genuine – someone you can trust.”

“He seems tolerant about the kids too,” I said. “Even although they were making a racket when he came. He says he was one of five himself.

“I think he liked the friendliness of the kids and how Mahri wanted to sit on his knee.”

And so Henry came into our lives. Henry was quite different from Adrian. He travelled light and I had much less washing and ironing to do for him.

He never complained about the food and was tolerant with the children. Not that he saw much of them in the week days.

Either he stayed in his room and read, fell asleep after a hard day’s work, or went down town.

Carmen started work a week before the school took up. A tough week for me but I coped as best I could. (More tomorrow.)